The players who shaped the game.

The championship era

Willie Hoppe (1887 to 1959)

At 18, Hoppe won the world 18.1 balkline title from Maurice Vignaux in Paris in 1906. Britannica credits him with 51 world titles between 1906 and 1952, including twelve in three-cushion; he went undefeated in 20 matches at a 1940 tournament in Chicago. He retired from title play in 1952 and was in the BCA Hall of Fame's first class in 1966.

Ralph Greenleaf (1899 to 1950)

Britannica says Greenleaf held the world pocket billiards title from 1919 through 1924 and on and off from 1926 to 1937. His total is disputed: Wikipedia lists 19 world titles, Billiards Digest 14. In 1929 he made a run of 126, a record for championship play on a 5 by 10 foot table. He toured vaudeville giving trick-shot shows with his wife, and was also in the first Hall of Fame class.

Willie Mosconi (1913 to 1993)

Mosconi's world title count is given as 19 by the BCA history page and Wikipedia, and as 15 by the BCA Hall of Fame page, Britannica and Billiards Digest. His famous 526-ball straight pool run came on 19 March 1954 (Wikipedia's Mosconi article says 19 to 20 March) at the East High Billiard Club in Springfield, Ohio, on a 4 by 8 foot table during an exhibition, backed by a notarized affidavit signed by more than 35 witnesses and later recognized by the BCA.

Whether 526 is still "the record" is debated. John Schmidt ran 626 in 2019, but critics note his was a non-competitive attempt. Later, larger runs reported for Jayson Shaw each rest on a single secondary source, so we do not list them here as established. Mosconi was technical adviser on The Hustler, coaching Paul Newman, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1968.

Minnesota Fats (Rudolf Wanderone, 1913 to 1996)

Wanderone adopted the "Minnesota Fats" name after The Hustler and claimed the character was based on him; author Walter Tevis denied it for the rest of his life. He never won a major tournament but was arguably the best-known pool player in America, hosting television shows and losing a televised 1978 match to Mosconi. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1984 for meritorious service.

The modern pool greats

Jean Balukas (born 1959)

Balukas won seven consecutive women's US Open straight pool titles (1972 to 1978) plus 1983; her 1972 win made her the youngest winner. In 1985, at 25, she became the BCA Hall of Fame's youngest inductee and its second woman. She left competition in 1988.

Earl Strickland (born 1961)

"Earl the Pearl" won the first WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1990 and won it again in 1991 and 2002, a record three. He shares the US Open record of five titles with Shane Van Boening. In 1996 he ran 11 straight racks at an event offering $1 million for 10; the insurers resisted, and he received less than $1 million after legal costs.

Efren Reyes (born 1954)

"The Magician" from the Philippines became the first non-American to win the US Open nine-ball, in 1994. He won the 1999 world nine-ball championship in Cardiff and in 2004 the WPA World Eight-ball title, becoming the first player to win WPA world titles in two disciplines. He won the World Cup of Pool twice with Francisco Bustamante and in 2003 became the first Asian player in the BCA Hall of Fame. The Reyes Cup is named after him.

Allison Fisher (born 1968)

Fisher won seven women's world snooker titles before moving to the US women's pool tour in 1995 (Wikipedia's article also gives conflicting context pointing to 1997), where she won WPA world nine-ball titles in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2001 and holds the WPBA record of more than 60 titles. She played for Europe at the first Mosconi Cup in 1994, entered the BCA Hall of Fame in 2009, and was made an MBE in 2022.

Shane Van Boening (born 1983)

Van Boening, who is hearing impaired, has five US Open titles, including a record three in a row, plus the 2022 WPA World Nine-ball and 2023 World Eight-ball titles. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2024 and won Master of the Table at the 2026 Derby City Classic.

Others

• Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter (1918 to 1988), best known for nine-ball; his straight pool world titles are counted as seven or six depending on the source. Hall of Fame 1983.
• Mike Sigel ("Captain Hook") won the first US Open in 1976, more than 100 pro events and three world straight pool titles, and was technical adviser on The Color of Money.
• Johnny Archer ("The Scorpion") won world nine-ball titles in 1992 and 1997 and was picked for the US Mosconi Cup team a record 17 times.

Snooker

Joe Davis (1901 to 1978)

Davis won all 15 world snooker championships held from 1927 to 1946 and is the only player never beaten in the event. He also won four world billiards titles and bought the championship trophy still in use today. He made the first officially recognized 147 maximum in 1955, in an exhibition.

Steve Davis (born 1957)

Six world titles between 1981 and 1989 and world number one for seven straight seasons. He made the first televised 147 in 1982, and he helped create the Mosconi Cup, playing for Europe 11 times.

Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan

Hendry won seven world titles and in 1990 became the youngest world champion, at 21. O'Sullivan matched his seven (2001 to 2022), became the oldest champion at 46 in 2022, holds the records for ranking titles and Triple Crown titles, and in 2019 became the first player to make 1,000 career centuries. His 1997 Crucible maximum is officially timed at 5 minutes 8 seconds (originally recorded as 5 minutes 20 seconds, the figure the WPBSA history page still gives).

Carom

Raymond Ceulemans (born 1937)

"Mr 100" from Belgium won 21 UMB world three-cushion titles between 1963 and 2001, the record. He entered the BCA Hall of Fame in 2001.